MatSciCon2023: Biohybrid material is robust but flexible, performing like cartilage.
Scientists have struggled to make biomaterials that work as well as cartilage and tendons, but a novel material developed at Cornell University suggests a promising new strategy for emulating real tissue. The findings, which were made public on July 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , offer a fresh method for putting together medical treatments for injured tissue. The tissue must be malleable enough to bend and flex while tough enough to tolerate sustained loading, such as the weight that a knee tendon must bear. Collagen hydrogels and synthetic materials may be used to replace worn-out or injured tissue, but neither by itself provides the ideal blend of biological and mechanical characteristics of real tissue. Now, Cornell scientists have created a biohybrid composite material with many of the same properties as a real tissue. Collagen, which provides the substance its softness and biocompatibility , and a s ynthetic zwitterionic hydrogel , which has pos...